The Buzz: The inside story of how Brett Goodes realised his unlikely AFL dream

Brett Goodes will make his AFL debut for the Western Bulldogs on Saturday. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

WHEN Brett Goodes makes his debut on Saturday night, the football world will wonder at this most unlikely feel-good story.

A 29-year-old brother of an AFL superstar plucked from his job as a Bulldogs welfare manager to lock down a spot in defence for the club.

They would make movies about in America: in fact, they have - think Blindside, or Mark Wahlberg as Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale in Invincible.

Little-known details of his belated elevation to the big time reveal the Goodes story loses little in the comparison.

Goodes survived battles against established players Matthew Bate and Brent Prismall, the club's hesitancy in taking a 29-year-old while in a rebuilding phase, and a nerve-racking AFL draft in which he watched on knowing precisely who was ahead of him in the Dogs' estimation.

Prudden was there at pick 50 and the Bulldogs pounced, Goodes breathed a sigh of relief back home on the couch in Melbourne, and weeks later - after the Herald Sun broke news of the impending coup - he was officially a Western Bulldog.

"We threw absolutely everything at him,'' McCartney says.

"Sometimes you feel like a hard bastard, because it's like coaching your son. Maybe you go harder on them, because you don't want to give them favours, but he has come through with flying colours.

"All the way through we kept him across the scenarios, including the financial situation, but he had followed this dream for so long.

"He wasn't going to give up.''

IS JACK WORTH MORE THAN COTCH?

THIS is how much former Richmond forward Nathan Brown rates new Richmond captain Trent Cotchin:

"When his career is finished, people will talk about him being one of the greats of all time,'' he tells the Buzz.

"That's how highly I regard him. Having been a player in the last 30 years, there is no better player than Cotchin. He is a freak. I have never seen him lose a one-on-one contest. He never goes to ground, he picks the ball up in contested situation and still puts distance on his opponent, and he is a great person.''

Former Carlton onballer Nick Stevens, who worked at Richmond in 2011, believes Cotchin can win multiple Brownlow Medals given his level of consistency.

That makes for maximum leverage when it comes to negotiating Cotchin's contract, as ESP founder and boss Craig Kelly is about to do.

Yet incoming footy boss Dan Richardson must also secure Jack Riewoldt, with talks on his new long-term deal imminent.

All of raises interesting questions that the Tigers must confront in coming months.

Who is the better player? Cotchin. Without question, as his second placing in the Brownlow Medal proves.

But which player would Richmond miss more if they went down in Round 1?

And how does that relate to the size of the contracts Richmond will reward them with?

It is easy to argue that Richmond would still be a finals contender even if Cotchin was sidelined this year.

Everyone wins if Adam Cooney returns to his form of old - the Bulldogs, the fans, and the player himself given he becomes a restricted free agent this year.

Cooney and the club have agreed to put off contract talks at least until the halfway mark of the season given his injury troubles.

At times it seemed he wouldn't even get to the end of his latest contract given his battles with a patella injury.

But Cooney's new off-season will hopefully give the 27-year-old longevity in the game, and the options that flow from that.

Does that mean he devotes himself as a one-club player? Hopefully.

Or maybe the club and player realise that given he might have just two more years in the game, they come to an agreement to trade him or take the compensation pick that would flow from moving as a free agent?

Don't totally discount that possibility.

It worked for Brian Lake because of his own determination to move on, and the Dogs have already shown themselves to be canny list managers not afraid of bold decisions.

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